System and method for reporting telecommunications utilization and forecasting

ABSTRACT

A system and method for forecasting and reporting telecommunications usage by a telecommunications carrier. The method includes storing data indicative of telephone number usage of telephone numbers assigned to the telecommunications carrier in a first database. The first database may be queried to obtain a first set of data including telephone number information associated with the telecommunications carrier. A second database operating on a network may be queried to obtain a second set of data including telephone number information associated with the telecommunications carrier. Telephone number usage and forecast data may be generated from the first and second sets of data.

BACKGROUND

The ten-digit North American Numbering Plan (NANP) currently used by theUnited States and 19 other countries is rapidly being depleted.Management of this resource is impaired by a lack of uniform data. Underthe Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecommunications Actof 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was given“exclusive jurisdiction over those portions of the North AmericanNumbering Plan that pertain to the United States.” Pursuant to thatauthority, the FCC conducted a rulemaking that, among other things,addressed regular reporting on numbering resources used by United Statestelecommunications carriers.

The FCC appointed an agency, known as the North American Numbering PlanAdministrator NANPA), to monitor numbering resources utilized by alltelecommunications carriers using the resources and to project the datesof area code and North American Numbering Plan exhaust. In their duties,NANPA created a numbering utilization report that telecommunicationscarriers are to submit semi-annually. The report is known as theNumbering Resource Utilization/Forecast (NRUF) Report.

The NRUF Report includes a number of different forms that provide NANPAwith information as to the usage of telecommunications allotted phonenumbers. As understood in the telecommunications industry, eachtelecommunications carrier is allotted a certain number of phone numbersin blocks of 10,000, which is generally subdivided into ten blocks of athousand. Ten-digit phone numbers include a (i) numbering plan area(NPA) (i.e., area code), which is three digits, (ii) central office code(NXX), which is also three digits, and (iii) thousands digit block(i.e., the first digit of the last four digits of a phone number).Telecommunications carriers provide phone numbers to customers fromthese blocks of a thousand numbers. As a thousands block is filled, itis considered to be exhausted. Some thousands digit blocks become filledwhile others become empty depending on how the telecommunicationscarrier customer base changes. The telecommunications carrier reportsthe existing usage and forecasts future usage of the phone numbers inthe NRUF Report.

One problem that exists with the NRUF Report is the time necessary tocollect and process the information to report. Telecommunicationscarriers generally have many divisions, many central offices, thousandsof thousands digit blocks, and millions of customers. Managing thisinformation and reporting it can take several man-weeks for producingeach NRUF Report. Another problem that exists is that there is nostandard method for forecasting exhaustion of a thousands digit block.

SUMMARY

To overcome the problems that exist for telecommunications carriers inreporting telephone number usage and forecasting exhaustion of thousandsdigit blocks, the principles of the present invention provide for asystem and method for accessing information stored in multiple databasesand processing the information to populate the NRUF Report.

One embodiment includes a system for forecasting and reportingtelecommunication usage by a telecommunications carrier. The system mayinclude a first database that stores data indicative of telephone numberusage of telephone numbers assigned to the telecommunications carrierand a computing device in communication with a second database via anetwork and containing telephone number usage information associatedwith multiple telecommunications carriers. Software may be executed bythe computing device to query the first database and the second databaseto retrieve information from the first and second databases to generatetelephone number usage and forecast data from the information of thedatabases. The software may further be executed to populate fields of areport with the telephone number usage and forecast data to be submittedto a telecommunications reporting agency. The first database maybeinternal to the telecommunications carrier and the second database maybe a database available to the telecommunications industry. In oneembodiment, the second database is the local exchange routing guide(LERG) database. The software may also be executed to query a thirddatabase available to the telecommunications industry to provide poolinginformation associated with each NPA to direct the software to populatethe correct NRUF form with usage and forecast information.

Another embodiment includes a method for forecasting and reportingtelecommunications usage by a telecommunications carrier. The methodincludes storing data indicative of telephone number usage of telephonenumbers assigned to the telecommunications carrier in a first database.The first database may be queried to obtain a first set of dataincluding telephone number information associated with thetelecommunications carrier. A second database operating on a network maybe queried to obtain a second set of data including telephone numberinformation associated with the telecommunications carrier. Telephonenumber usage and forecast data may be generated from the first andsecond sets of data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the method and apparatus of the presentinvention may be obtained by reference to the following DetailedDescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary organizational structure forfulfilling governmental telecommunications telephone number usagereporting requirements;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system configuration for fulfillinggovernmental telecommunications telephone number usage reportingrequirements;

FIGS. 3A-3D are exemplary completed NRUF forms;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for gathering andprocessing information to complete NRUF forms;

FIG. 5 is a more detailed block dram of the exemplary system of FIG. 4for gathering and processing information to complete NRUF forms; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process for reportingtelecommunications usage and forecasting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary organizational structure forfulfilling governmental telecommunications telephone number usagereporting requirements. As shown, a governmental organization, such asthe Federal Communications Commission (FCC, sets guidelines and mandatesfor the telecommunications industry for reporting telecommunicationsusage. The telecommunications usage includes telephone number usage sothat planning of additional phone numbers across the United States maybe adequately planned to avoid reaching a telephone number exhaustsituation in any particular region.

To help manage the reporting by the telecommunications industry, areporting agency 104, currently known as the North American NumberingPlan Administration (NANPA), has been established. Telecommunicationcompanies 106 a-106 n (collectively 106) provide telecommunicationsservices to customers, including using and managing telephone numbers.As mandated by the government, the telecommunications companies 106 areto file semi-annual Number Resource Utilization/Forecast Reports (NRUF)108 a-108 n (collectively 108) that show telephone number utilizationand forecasting of the telephone numbers for which the respectivetelecommunications companies are responsible.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system configuration 200 for fulfillinggovernmental telecommunications telephone number usage reportingrequirements. The system configuration includes a variety of servers anddatabases for use in storing and retrieving data associated withtelecommunications usage.

Telecommunications servers 202 a-202 n (collectively 202) may beutilized to process telecommunications usage and forecasting of therespective companies by one or more telecommunications companies. Server202 a may include a processor 204 in communication with a memory 206that is used for storing data and software and an input/output (I/O)unit 208 for communicating outside of the telecommunication server 202a. Software 210 may be executed by the processor 204 for performing datacollection and processing of telecommunication usage and forecasting forthe respective telecommunications company. A storage unit 212, which maybe contained within the telecommunications server or located remotelyfrom the telecommunications server 202 a, is used to storetelecommunications usage information in one or more databases 214 a-214n (collectively 214). The databases 214 may store telephone numbersassigned to the telecommunications company and usage of those telephonenumbers by customers of the telecommunications company. As shown,telecommunications server 202 n may include the same or similarcomponents as telecommunications server 202 a and store data in anassociated storage unit 216. In one embodiment, the telecommunicationsservers 202 are used by the same telecommunications company having oneor more divisions located across several states and regions within eachstate, but manage information associated with each of the respectivedivisions in which the telecommunications servers operate.

As understood in the telecommunications community, a LERG server 218 ismanaged by Telcordia Technologies, Inc. to manage the LERG database 220a-220 n (collectively 220). The LERG database 220 stores the NorthAmerican Numbering Plan (NANP) which governs the management of telephonenumber resources for the public switched telephone networks in NorthAmerica, including Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, andterritories, within the international country code ‘1’. The LERGdatabase 220 has data for every switch and central office in the NorthAmerican telephone network The LERG server 218 includes a processor 222and software 224 for communicating with the LERG database 220. Memory226 and an I/O unit 228 are in communication with the processor 222 forstoring information and communicating with the LERG database 220 andwith the telecommunications servers 202.

NeuStar® is an administrator of the thousands-block number pooling inthe United States. As the pooling administrator, NeuStar hastelecommunications companies 106 (FIG. 1) submit information to themabout phone number resources that are allocated. Each telecommunicationscompany submits the information for each NPA and rate center of thecompany. A NeuStar server 230 is operated by NeuStar. The NeuStar server230 may include the same or similar components as the LERG server 218.The NeuStar server 230, however, operates to manage different databases232 a-232 n (collectively, 232) stored on a storage system 234, whichmay or may not be a part of the NeuStar server 230. As understood, theNeuStar databases 232 may store information for all telecommunicationscompanies, including forecasted demand, blocks assigned, blocksreturned, blocks donated, blocks added to the pool from new codes, andblocks available, for example. This information collected by the NeuStarserver 230 may aggregate the information to provide historicalinformation to the telecommunications industry and forecast informationfor the telecommunications industry so that telephone number resourcesmay be planned going forward and trends may be determined. Contents ofthe NeuStar databases 232 may be utilized in accordance with theprinciples and the present invention.

A NANPA server 236, which may include the same or similar components asthe LERG server 218 may be used to manage information being submitted toNANPA from the telecommunications companies 106. The storage unit 238may include databases 240 a-240 n (collectively 240) for storing theinformation. In one embodiment, the databases 240 store NRUF reports 108(FIG. 1), which may be in the form of Excel spreadsheets, PDF images, orraw content as specified by NANPA. The NRUF reports stored in thedatabases 240 may be utilized by NANPA, the reporting agency 104 (FIG.1), or other reporting agencies directed by the government to managephone number resources in the United States.

Each of the servers shown may be in communication with one another via anetwork 242.

In one embodiment, the network 242 is the Internet. Alternatively, otherpublic or private networks, including wired, wireless, satellite, or anyother configuration may be utilized in accordance with the principlesand the present invention for providing communication services betweeneach of the servers. As shown, communication over the network 242 isperformed via data packets 244 a-244 n as understood in the art. Othertypes of communication protocols may be utilized in accordance with theprinciples and present inventions. While only three databases, the LERGdatabase 220, NeuStar database 232, and NANPA database 240 are shown, itshould be understood that other and/or additional databases that provideinformation associated with the telecommunications industry andincluding information for use in completing NRUF reports may beutilized.

FIGS. 3A-3D are exemplary completed NRUF forms. The forms are used forreporting telephone number usage by each of the telecommunicationscompanies 106. A complete NRUF report contains 12 forms for collectingutilization and forecast data from telecommunications carriers. However,only four of the twelve are provided for exemplary purposes because manyof the others are not utilized or seldom utilized due to being used forspecific purposes or seldom including information that needs to bereported. It should be understood that the principles of the presentinvention maybe utilized for completing a full NRUF report.

FIG. 3A is an exemplary form U1 Utilization Reporting Form (fornon-rural primary carriers). This form is used for non-rural primarycarriers to report at the thousands block level per rate center. Thisform, as well as the other NRUF forms, are configured in MicrosoftExcel® and include a header portion 302 for the telecommunicationcompany to enter company information in tables 304 and 306. Theinformation provided may include service provider name, company address,city, state, zip code, contact name, contact telephone number, serviceprovider OCN, service provider federal registration number (FRN), andservice provider service type.

Another table 308 that includes numbering resource utilization for eachthousands or 1 K block is completed by each telecommunications company106 (FIG. 1). The information to be reported includes NPA-NXX, thousandsdigit (“X”), rate center abbreviations, assigned numbers, intermediatenumbers, reserved numbers, aging numbers, administrative numbers,donated to pool indicators, notes/assignee information, availablenumbers, utilization percentages, errors/messages, etc. The first tencolumns are filled in by the telecommunications carriers based onutilization by customers being supported in each NPA-NXX-X (i.e., firsttwo columns of table 308). Available numbers, utilizations, anderrors/messages are computed based on the resources being utilized bythe telecommunications company for each NPA-NXX-XY

Five categories are required to be reported in the U1 UtilizationReporting Form, including “assigned,” “intermediate,” “reserved,”“aging,” and “administrative.” These categories are defined in FCC Order00-104. A sixth category, “available,” is automatically calculated andno entry is necessary. Clicking on a soft-button 310 causes the“available” data to be checked before submission. It should beunderstood that the forms provided in FIGS. 3A-3D are provided by thereporting agency 104 (FIG. 1) to each telecommunications company 106 forreporting numbering resource utilization and forecasting. One embodimentin accordance to the principles of the present invention provides fordetermining the utilization of the different categories (e.g.,“assigned”).

Definitions for the different utilization categories as described in theNRUF report are provided herein below for convenience purposes:

Assigned: Assigned numbers are defined as “numbers working in the publicswitched telephone network under an agreement such as a contract ortariff at the request of specific end users or customers for their use,or numbers not yet working but having a customer service order pending.Numbers that are not yet working and have a service order pending formore than five days shall not be classified as assigned numbers.”

Intermediate: Intermediate numbers are defined as “numbers that are madeavailable for use by another telecommunications carrier or non-carrierentity for the purpose of providing telecommunications service to an enduser or customer.” “An exception to this requirement is numbers reportedfor the purpose of transferring an established customer's service toanother service provider, in which case the numbers are classified as“assigned” by the reporting carrier and not counted by the receivingcarrier. For intermediate numbers provided by carriers to non-carrierentities, the providing carrier must report utilization for thesenumbers. Numbers assigned to end users by a non-carrier entity should bereported by the providing carrier as “assigned”. Any remaining numbersheld by a non-carrier entity that are not assigned to end users shall bereported by the providing carrier as “intermediate.” The sum of numbersreported by the carrier for the non-carrier entity in these twocategories should always equal the total of numbers held by thenon-carrier entity.

Reserved: Reserved numbers are defined as “numbers that are held byservice providers at the request of specific end users or customers fortheir future use.” Numbers held for specific end users or customers morethan 180 days shall not be classified as reserved numbers.

Aging: Aging numbers are defined as “disconnected numbers that are notavailable for assignment to another end user or customer for a specificperiod of time.” “Numbers previously assigned to residential customersmay be aged for no more than 90 days. Numbers previously assigned tobusiness customers maybe aged for no more than 365 days.”

Administrative: Administrative numbers are defined as “numbers used bytelecommunications carriers to perform internal administrative oroperational functions necessary to maintain reasonable quality ofservice standards.”

Donated to Pool: An “X” is entered in this column if the NPA-NXX-X blockhas been donated to a pool.

FIGS. 3B-3D show exemplary forms F-1b, F-2b, and F-3, respectively.These forms are used to report forecasting of telephone numberresources. More specifically, Form F-1b is used for pooling carriers toreport forecasts for each NPA and rate center, Form F-2b is used fornon-pooling carriers in pooling areas for forecasting for each NPA, andForm F-3b is used for carriers in non-pooling areas for forecasting foreach NPA and rate center. Similar to FIG. 3A, multiple tables areprovided in each of FIGS. 3B-3D for header information and reportinginformation. It should be understood that one skilled in the art oftelecommunications resource reporting is well versed in utilizing theseresource utilization and forecast report forms.

FIG. 3B is an exemplary Form F-1b that is part of the NRUF Reportsubmitted on a semi-annual basis by telecommunications service providers106 (FIG. 1). Pooling carriers, where a pooling carrier is atelecommunications carrier that has pooled telephone number resources incertain rate center locations, fill out Form F-1b when submitting theNRUF Report. Form F-1b includes a header portion with tables 314 and 316that is filled out with information associated with thetelecommunications service provider, such as parent company name,service provider name, address, service provider operator company number(OCN), service provider federal registration number, service type, etc.In addition, telecommunications service providers 106 fill out aforecast table 318 for forecasting pooling areas in 1 K blocks per ratecenter, per year and 1 K blocks (growth codes) over the next five years.It will be seen that this forecasting is different from forms F-2b FIG.3) and forms F-3b (FIG. 3D) as form F-1b requests forecasting for 1 Kblocks, whereas forms F-2b and F-3b request forecasting for 10 K blocks(i.e., NXX level blocks). Also, forecasting information associated witheach rate center in an NPA is submitted in Form F-1b.

FIG. 3C is an exemplary Form F-2b that is part of the NRUF Report.Non-pooling carriers, where a non-pooling carrier is atelecommunications carrier that has not pooled telephone numberresources in certain rate center locations, fills out Form F-2b whensubmitting the NRUF Report.

The Form F-2b includes a header portion having tables 320 and 322 to befilled with information associated with the telecommunications serviceprovider, as described with regard to Form F-1b of FIG. 3B. Thetelecommunications service providers 106 fill out a forecast table 324for forecasting NXX(s) per rate center, per year (growth codes) over thenext five years. As shown, the forecast table 324 requests NPA and ratecenters, but is performed on a 10 K block level as opposed to the 1 Kblock level of Form F-1b (FIG. 3B).

FIG. 3D is an example Form F-3b that is part of the NRUF Report.Telecommunications carriers in non-pooling areas, which are areas inwhich pooling has not been initiated yet, fill out Form F-3b whensubmitting the NRUF Report. The Form F-3b includes a header portionincluding tables 326 and 328 to be filled out with informationassociated with the telecommunications service provider, as describedwith regard to FIG. 3B. The telecommunications service providers 106fill out a forecast table 330 for forecasting NXX(s) per NPA, per year(growth codes) over the next five years. As shown, the forecast table328 requests NPAs and is performed on a 10 K block level as opposed tothe 1 K block level of form F-1b (FIG. 3B).

As understood in the art, the telecommunications carriers may userespective proprietary inventory databases (e.g., databases 214) togenerate at least a portion of the information used for generatingutilization and forecasting information to complete the NRUF forms.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary system 400 for gathering andprocessing information to complete the NRUF forms. The system mayinclude data sources 402, modules 404, and reports 406. The data sources402 may include a telecommunications service provider inventory database214, LERG database 220, and NeuStar database 232. As shown in FIG. 2,the LERG database 220 and NeuStar database 232 are accessible via anetwork 242, such as the Internet. It should be understood that otherdatabases currently available or developed in the future that includeinformation available to be used to determine information for completingthe NRUF forms may be utilized in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

The modules 404 include an NRUF database system module 408, databasecomparison and verification module 410, blocks available for donationmodule 412, months to exhaust module 414, and directory numbersavailable module 416. While the NRUF database system module 408 is ofprincipal focus for completing the four NRUF forms of FIGS. 3 a-3D, theother modules are briefly described hereinbelow.

NRUF Database System Module

The NRUF database system module 408 is used to collect and processinformation from the databases 214, 220, and 232 to fill-out the NRUFforms 418, which includes NRUF forms U1, F-1b, F-2b, and F-3b, asprovided in FIGS. 3A-3D. The NRUF database system module 408 is theprimary aspect of the remainder of this description.

Database Comparison and Verification Module

The database comparison and verification module 410 is a module used toextract information from both the telecommunications service providerdatabase 214 and LERG database 220 and to compare the pooling statuses(i.e., every thousands block that the telecommunications serviceprovider currently owns or had owned in the past) as well as theportability indicators stored in the respective databases. A report maybe generated to shows all thousands blocks where there is a discrepancybetween the sources.

Blocks Available for Donation Module

The blocks available for donation module 412 queries several datasources 402 to first find all thousands blocks currently owned by atelecommunications service provider that are at or less than 10%utilized or contaminated. In other words, if 100 or less of the 1000numbers in the thousands block are currently unavailable for assignment,the thousands block is not considered to be over-contaminated. By being10% or less utili1ed, the block is capable of being pooled back to thegovernment. However, the telecommunications service provider would notnecessarily want to donate all blocks in a rate center that areunder-contaminated. The second factor that should be accounted for isthe projected growth of a rate center. The telecommunications serviceprovider should donate only enough thousands blocks to ensure that arate center will not exhaust all phone numbers in the rate center withinthe next six months. This number of thousands blocks to donate is what areport from this module 412 illustrates. This module 412 lists thecurrent under-contaminated thousands blocks and their respective percentutilizations. Users may filter results based on NPA, state, and ratecenter combinations.

Months to Exhaust Module

The months to exhaust module 414 automates the process for populating aMonths-to-Exhaust Worksheet, which must be completed when atelecommunications carrier requests additional thousands blocks forgrowth in a rate center where the carrier already has resourcesassigned. It extracts information from both the telecommunicationsservice provider database 214 and LERG database 220. The module thenuses queries to group, subtotal, and filter data to meet therequirements for the worksheet. Calculations are automated to determinewhether the six months to exhaust requirement and the minimum 75%utilization requirement are met.

Continuing with FIG. 4, the NRUF database system module 408 may beconfigured to query one or more databases to receive information forprocessing and completing NRUF forms. As shown, the NRUF forms, U1,F-1b, F-2b, and F-3b, may be completed by the NRUF database systemmodule 408. However, it should be understood that the NRUF databasesystem module 408 may be adapted to complete other NRUF forms in thesame or similar manner.

FIG. 5 is a more detailed block diagram 500 of the exemplary system ofFIG. 4 for gathering and processing information to complete an NRUFreport. As shown, three databases, including the service providerinventory database 214, LERG database 220, and NeuStar Timeline Report232, may be accessed to obtain information to be used for completing theNRUF report. In one embodiment, two or more databases may be accessed,including an internal database to the service provider and atelecommunications industry accessible database (e.g., the LERG database220), if enough information can be gathered from these databases tocomplete the NRUF report. However, based on the current configurationsof the three databases, each is accessed to complete the NRUF reports inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

As previously described, (i) pooling carriers (i.e., those carriers inpooling areas who have donated or received numbers from the number pool)report forecasts by rate center on the F-1b form, (i) non-poolingcarriers in pooling areas (i.e., carriers in pooling areas who have notdonated or received numbers from the number pool) report forecasts byrate center on the F-2b form, and (iii) carriers operating innon-pooling areas (i.e., NPA areas that have not yet started pooling)report forecasts in NPA areas on the F-3b form. The determination as towhich forms to report projections for particular NPA areas may bedetermined using the NeuStar database 232 and looking up the NeuStarTimeline Report. At this time, the NeuStar Timeline Report can be foundat:

-   -   “https://www.nationalpooling.com/pas/control/timelinereport?siteTyp=FR”

In one embodiment, the database or table that is stored at theabove-listed website may be searched at the website. Alternatively, thecontents of the database may be downloaded into a local software program(e.g., Microsoft Excel®) or database (e.g., Microsoft Access®) andqueried therein.

In step 502, a query may be performed on the data from the NeuStardatabase 232 to determine whether an NPA is a pooling area. The NeuStarTimeline Report (not shown) includes, in part, state, NPA, and poolstart date information. If the pool start date listed is prior to thecurrent date, then the NPA is a pooling area. Otherwise, the NPA is anon-pooling area and Form F-3b is completed for those NPA areas. Unlessan NPA is relatively new, most NPA areas are pooling areas, which is whythe Form F-3b in FIG. 3D is empty. If the query in step 502 determinesthat the NPA is a pooling area, then in step 504, a query determineswhether the telecommunications service provider is a pooling carrier inthat NPA. In other words, a determination is made to determine if theservice provider has ever pooled in the NPA. If so, then a forecast forthe NPA is reported in Form F-1b. Otherwise, a forecast for the NPA isreported in Form F-2b.

As shown, four queries may be performed with the service providerinventory database, including a history query 506, installed type ITYPE& status query 508, aging numbers query 510, and working numbers query512. The history query 506 and working numbers query 512 are used tocomplete Forms F-1b, F-2b, and F-3b and the other queries 508 and 510are used to complete the U1 Form.

The history query 506 extracts or identifies the number of working phonenumbers at rate center levels for each of the last 13 months from theservice provider inventory database 214. TABLE I is representative of aportion of such an extraction. It should be understood that TABLE I isan exemplary portion of an overall database that includes workingtelephone numbers for all rate centers and NPAs of thetelecommunications service provider. At step 514, NPA growth isdetermined for inclusion in form F-3b, if it is determined from step 502that the NPA is not a pooling area. For example, referring to TABLE Ibelow, if the current month is June 2006, month 13 (M13) would be theprevious month (e.g., May 2006) since the current month is not complete.Month 1 (M1) would be May 2005. By using a rolling 13 months of history,month 1 can be subtracted from month 13 to derive the past year ofgrowth (positive) or loss (negative). In the example of TABLE I,assuming that Decatur is the only rate center reported by the serviceprovider, the growth of the NPA 940 is 22,886−21,316=1,570 phone numbergrowth. If there are multiple rate centers served in this NPA, theworking numbers would first be subtotaled at the NPA level. At step 516,an NXX forecast per NPA may be determined. The results are included inForm F-3b if the NPA is not a pooling area.

TABLE I Working Numbers at Rate Centers Table ST Rate Center NPA YRMOWorking TX DECATUR 940 M13 22886 TX DECATUR 940 M12 22887 TX DECATUR 940M11 22875 TX DECATUR 940 M10 22841 TX DECATUR 940 M9 21741 TX DECATUR940 M8 21781 TX DECATUR 940 M7 21801 TX DECATUR 940 M6 21871 TX DECATUR940 M5 21879 TX DECATUR 940 M4 22647 TX DECATUR 940 M3 22641 TX DECATUR940 M2 22098 TX DECATUR 940 M1 21316

At step 518, rate center growth may be determined based on theinformation from TABLE I in a similar manner as the NPA growth describedwith respect to step 514. In this case, rate center growth is calculatedin the same manner and is the same as NPA growth (i.e., 1,570 phonenumbers). If a service provider reported on multiple rate centersservicing a single NPA, which is often the case, then the growth for therate center and NPA would likely be different. At step 520, an NXXforecast per rate center is generated. In one embodiment, the growth maybe projected by using the same growth as computed for the past 13-months(i.e., 1,570 phone lines). Alternatively, a different technique may beused for projecting the growth, such as using a moving average or otherstatistical function. The results of the NXX forecast per rate centermaybe applied to Form F-2b if it is determined at step 504 that thecarrier is not a pooling carrier. If it is determined that the carrieris a pooling carrier, then the results of step 522, which determines thethousands block forecast per rate center, is applied to Form F-1b.

Continuing with the queries, the ITYPE & status query 508 reportssubtotals for combinations of installed type and status at the NPA-NXX-X(thousands block) level. When blocks of telephone numbers are assignedto a carrier, the services for which the numbers can be used arelimited. For example, a block of numbers may be assigned for pagingservices only. Assigning an installed type to numbers in a carrier'sinventory database allows the carrier to follow regulations in assigningthe numbers. The status field serves to report the current status of thephone number. For example, the status defines directory numbers that areassigned to working customers and those that are currently unassigned.

TABLE II is an exemplary partial listing of a telecommunications serviceprovider inventory of telephone numbers. The list includes NPA-NXX-X,installation type, status, and quantity of numbers with a particularstatus. For example, the status “ASN” stands for “assigned,” and thereare four (4) phone numbers in the NPA-NXX-X of 219-261-2 that areassigned.

TABLE II Service Provider Inventory Database NPA NXX X ITYPE STATUS QTY219 261 0 REG WKG 1 219 261 0 SPL WKG 1 219 261 2 COIN ASN 4 219 261 2COIN VAC 1 219 261 2 COIN VND 23 219 261 2 COIN WKG 72 219 261 2 REG DNA1 219 261 2 REG LNPO 2 219 261 2 REG VAC 1 219 261 2 REG VND 153 219 2612 REG WKG 741 219 261 2 REG WLNP 2

TABLE III is a cross-reference table for the different ITYPE categories.For example, the ITYPE “BBDN” represents “broadband” service and “REG”represents “regular” service of customer telephone lines. TABLE IV is across-reference table for the status categories. For example, “ASN”represents phone numbers that are “assigned” and “WKG” represents phonenumbers that have working service. Both of the ITYPE and statuscross-reference tables are used in determining what information toreport on the utility U1 form, as further described below with regard tothe flow chart extending from the ITYPE & status query 508. It should beunderstood that TABLES III and IV are exemplary and that other and/oradditional tables may be used in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention. It should also be understood that the content of thetables may be different or additional content may be utilized to performthe same or similar functionality as described herein. Furthermore, itshould be understood that no tables may be used and cross-referencing ofcategories maybe performed by using software that includescross-reference values by hard-coding or otherwise.

TABLE III INSTALL TYPE CROSS-REFERENCE TABLE ITYPE DESCRIPTION EFFECT800 800 SERVICE NO EFFECT BBDN BROADBAND NO EFFECT CNTX CENTREX NUMBERSNO EFFECT COIN COIN NO EFFECT DID DIRECT IN DIAL SVC. NO EFFECT ISDN INTSWITCH DIG NETWK NO EFFECT LNPI LNP IN EXCLUDE MBAS MILITARY BASE NOEFFECT MBEX MILITARY PIN/NO DIAL EXCLUDE MCA METRO CALLING AREA NOEFFECT MEXT MESSAGE LINE EXT. EXCLUDE MSGL MESSAGE LINE NUMBER NO EFFECTPAGE PAGING NO EFFECT POOL NUMBER POOLING NO EFFECT RECL RECLAIMED NOEFFECT REG REGULAR NO EFFECT SPL SPECIAL BILLING (WO) NO EFFECT STGVSTATE GOVERNMENT NMBR INTERMEDIATE TEST TEST ADMINISTRATIVE TLCO COMPANYOFFICIAL NM ADMINISTRATIVE TNBR TOTAL NUMBER SERVICE NO EFFECT NSTRNEUSTAR'S BLOCK NO EFFECT PATS CUSTOMER OWNED PHONE NO EFFECT PCSPERSONAL COMM SVC NO EFFECT ROT ROTARY HUNT NO EFFECT SWAD TESTADMINISTRATIVE WATS OUT WATS NO EFFECT

TABLE IV STATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TABLE STATUS DESCRIPTION EFFECT ASNASSIGNED ASSIGNED CEAS PORTED # DATABASE ASSIGNED DNA DO NOT ASSIGNADMINISTRATIVE JPY JEOPARDY ASSIGNED LNPO LNP OUT ASSIGNED RECL RECLAIMSD EXCLUDE RES RESERVED RESERVED SND SENDING TO VND EXCLUDE VAC VACANTEXCLUDE VACR VACANT RELATED ORDER ASSIGNED VND VACANT NUMBER DATABASEEXCLUDE WKG WORKING SERVICE ASSIGNED WLNP WORKING LNP SERVICE ASSIGNEDCVR CONNECT VACATION SVC ASSIGNED LNPP LNP PENDING PORT ASSIGNED

Continuing with FIG. 5, the ITYPE & status query 508 accesses theservice provider inventory database 214 to extract data, such as thedata of TABLE II. The process continues at step 524, where adetermination is made as to whether either the ITYPE or status indicatesto exclude the numbers. For example, referring to TABLE II, forNPA-NXX-X of 219-261-2 having an ITYPE of “COIN” and status of “VND”(see row 5 of TABLE II), when the ITYPE cross-reference table (TABLEIII) is cross-referenced, the effect for “COIN” is shown to have “NOEFFECT” (see row 4 of TABLE III) and when the status cross-referencetable (TABLE IV) is cross-referenced, the effect for “VND” is “EXCLUDE”(see row 11 of TABLE IV). If at step 524 it is determined that eitherthe ITYP or status is to be excluded, then at step 526, the telephonenumbers are excluded from reporting. Therefore, in the instant example,the 23 phone numbers in 219-261-2 that have a status of “VND” areexcluded from reporting.

If at step 524 it is determined that neither the ITYPE or statusindicate to exclude the numbers, then at step 528, a determination ismade as to whether the ITYPE indicates one of the five NRUF categories(i.e., “assigned,” “intermediate,” “reserved,” “aging,”“administrative”). For example, if one of the NPA-NXX-X ITYPE dataelements were “TEST,” then the effect would be found in TABLE III asbeing “ADMINISTRATIVE,” which is one of the NRUF categories. If theITYPE indicates one of the NRUF categories at step 528, then the processcontinues at step 530, where the number of telephone numbers using theNRUF category indicated by the ITYPE is reported. The process continuesat step 532 to report the number of telephone numbers that meets one ofthe categories “Assigned,” “Intermediate,” Reserved,” or“Administrative” on the U1 form.

If it is determined at step 528 that the ITYPE is not one of the NRUFcategories (e.g., “NO EFFECT”), then the process continues at step 534,where a determination is made as to whether the status is one of theNRUF categories. For example, referring to TABLE II, for NPA-NXX-X of219-261-2 having ITYPE and status of “COIN” and “ASN,” the effect foundin TABLE IV is “ASSIGNED,” which is one of the NRUF categories. If it isdetermined at step 534 that the status is an NRUF category, then theprocess continues at step 536 where the number of telephone numbersusing the NRUF category indicated by the status is reported. For thecase of 219-261-2 having ITYPE and status of “COIN” and “ASN,” there are4 telephone numbers that are reported. As another example, referring toTABLE II, for NPA-NXX-X of 219-261-2 having ITYPE and status of “REG”and “WKG,” the quantity of 741 numbers are reported as being “ASSIGNED”on the U1 Form (FIG. 3A). The process continues at step 532 to reportthe numbers on the U1 form. If, at step 534, the status does notindicate one of the NRUF categories, then the process continues at step538, where the telephone numbers are excluded from reporting.

Continuing with the queries, the aging numbers query 510 is used toreport subtotals for aging numbers at an NPA-NXX-X (thousands block)level. TABLE V shows a subset of the service provider inventory database214 with aging data. The aging data is reported via step 540 on the U1Form (FIG. 3A).

TABLE V Inventory Data with Telephone Number Aging Information NPA NXX XAGING 219 261 2 46 219 261 3 22 219 261 4 3 219 275 2 4 219 275 3 9 219275 4 7 219 275 5 8 219 275 6 3

Continuing with the queries, the working numbers query 512 reportsworking numbers at the NPA-NXX-X (thousands block) level that aredesignated as being working. TABLE VI shows a subset of the serviceprovider inventory database 214 with working telephone number data. Theworking numbers are used in combination with the data from the LERGdatabase 220.

TABLE VI Inventory Data with Working Telephone Number Information NPANXX X WORKING 218 534 0 33 218 534 1 74 218 534 2 69 218 534 3 569 218534 4 97 218 534 5 79 218 534 7 18 218 534 9 72

At step 542 and 544, assigned thousands blocks (i.e., blocks currentlyallocated to the reporting carrier) and unassigned thousands blocks(i.e., blocks not currently allocated to the reporting carrier),respectively, are collected from the LERG database 220. Carrier workingnumbers (i.e., the reporting carrier's working customers whose numbersreside in a thousand block owned by the reporting carrier) aredetermined at step 546 and non-carrier working numbers (i.e., thereporting carrier's working customers whose numbers do not reside in athousand block owned by the reporting carrier) are determined at step548. Thousand blocks in each rate center (i.e., the number of thousandsblocks owned by the reporting carrier for each rate center) aredetermined at step 550 and thousand blocks in each NPA (i.e., the numberof thousands blocks owned by the reporting carrier for each NPA) aredetermined at step 552. Rate center percent utilization is determined atstep 554 and NPA percent utilization is determined at step 556. Thesevalues are used to complete the NRUF Forms F-1b, F-2b, and F-3b.

${{RTCTR}\mspace{14mu}\%\mspace{14mu}{Util}} = \frac{{CarrierWkg} + {NonCarrierWkg}}{{NonCarrierWkg} + {(1000)({ThouBlocksInRateCenter})}}$${{NPA}\mspace{14mu}\%\mspace{14mu}{Util}} = \frac{{CarrierWkg} + {NonCarrierWkg}}{{NonCarrierWkg} + {(1000)({ThouBlocksInNPA})}}$

The principles of the present invention determine which thousands blocksthe company is responsible to report utilizing information stored in theLERG database 220. For example, with number portability and numberpooling, Company A may have customers in thousands blocks that are ownedby Company B. Company A should not report utilization for thesethousands blocks because Company B will report those numbers. Todetermine which blocks should be reported, the LERG database 220 is usedas the determining data source. All blocks that are listed in the LERGhave a corresponding operating company number (OCN). All thousandsblocks listed in the LERG database 220 with an OCN that belongs to aparticular carrier should be reported in the carrier's NRUF filings.However, this criteria alone does not include all necessary thousandsblocks. If all of the thousands blocks in a NPA-NXX belong to onecarrier and the blocks have not been pooled, then only the NPA-NXX showsup in the LERG database 220 rather than one record for each thousandsblock. To compensate for this, the process 500 splits these NPA-NXX'sinto all ten thousands blocks (0 through 9) for the blocks to report.Those blocks that were once owned by a company and donated back to thegovernment without yet being reassigned should also be reported on thecompany's NRUF filings. These blocks are determined by meeting thefollowing three conditions:

-   -   1) The NPA-NXX is listed in the LERG database 220 with one of        the company's OCN's.    -   2) The NPA-NXX is split out in the LERG database 220 to include        one or more thousands blocks, rather than just one record for        the whole NPA-NXX.    -   3) One or more of the thousands blocks for the NPA-NXX's is not        listed in the LERG database 220.

If each of these conditions is met, then those blocks not listed in theLERG database 220 are the additional blocks that should be included inthe list of blocks to report. These blocks are marked with an “X”,indicating that the block has been pooled.

In the following example shown in TABLE V, for NPA-NXX 419-520, atelecommunications company having OCN 0661 is the code holder of theNPA-NXX as indicated by the first line with a block ID of “A” for all.Since the thousand blocks are broken out into individual records, butonly eight of the ten blocks are listed in the LERG database 220, thismeans that blocks 7 and 9 are unassigned blocks. The blocks 7 and 9 havebeen pooled by one company, but not yet reassigned to another company,so these blocks are still to be reported by the pooling company. Blocks5 and 8 have been pooled and reassigned to a company other than thepooling company having OCN 553A, so these blocks are not be reported bythe pooling company.

TABLE VII Pooling Example State Rate Center NPA NXX Block_ID OCN OHMANSFIELD 419 520 A 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419 520 0 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419520 1 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419 520 2 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419 520 3 0661 OHMANSFIELD 419 520 4 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419 520 5 553A OH MANSFIELD 419520 6 0661 OH MANSFIELD 419 520 8 553A

Therefore, for reporting utilization in this example, the followingthousands blocks and pooling indicators are reported:

TABLE VIII Pooling Reporting Example NPA_NXX_X RATE_CTR POOL 419-520-0MANSFIELD 419-520-1 MANSFIELD 419-520-2 MANSFIELD 419-520-3 MANSFIELD419-520-4 MANSFIELD 419-520-6 MANSFIELD 419-520-7 MANSFIELD X 419-520-9MANSFIELD X

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process 600 for reportingtelecommunications usage and forecasting. At step 602, data indicativeof telephone number usage assigned to a telecommunications carrier isstored in a first database. In one embodiment, the first database is aproprietary database managed by the telecommunications carrier. At step604, the first database may be queried to obtain a first set of dataincluding telephone number information associated with thetelecommunications carrier. At step 606, a second database operating ona network may be queried to obtain a second set of data includingtelephone number information associated with the telecommunicationscarrier. In one embodiment, the second database may be a databasemanaged for the telecommunications industry, such as the LERG database.At step 608, telephone number usage and forecast data may be generatedfrom the first and second sets of data. The telephone number usage andforecast data may be used for completing NRUF forms. A third databasemay also be queried to retrieve information that may assist indetermining which form of the NRUF forms to apply the telephone numberusage and forecast data.

Using the system and methods described above, the time for completingNRUF reports may be reduced from several weeks to less than an hour. Inaddition, business information that was otherwise too difficult toaccumulate during reporting periods are now able to easily be collectedand reported for business purposes. Also, forecasting is improved fromconventional forecasting, where the principles of the present inventionmay forecast by using, in one embodiment, the growth over the past 12months to project the next 12 months rather than simply using a flatnumber as may previously have considered to be acceptable.

The previous detailed description of a small number of embodiments forimplementing the invention is not intended to be limiting in scope. Oneof skill in this art will immediately envisage the methods andvariations used to implement this invention in other areas than thosedescribed in detail. The following claims set forth a number of theembodiments of the invention disclosed with greater particularity.

1. A system for forecasting and reporting telecommunication usage by atelecommunications carrier, said system comprising: a first databaseoperated by the telecommunications carrier and storing data indicativeof telephone number usage of telephone numbers assigned to thetelecommunications carrier; a computing device in communication with asecond database via a network, the second database being operatedexternal to the system and storing telephone number usage informationassociated with multiple telecommunications carriers, said computingdevice executing software to query said first database operated by thetelecommunications carrier and the second database to retrieveinformation from the database to automatically generate a telephonenumber usage and forecast data from the information of the databases andto populate fields of a report with the telephone number usage forecastto be submitted to a telecommunications reporting agency for forecastingfuture telecommunications telephone number usage.
 2. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the report is a numbering resourcesutilization and forecast (NRUF) report.
 3. The system according to claim1, wherein the second database is the local exchange routing guide(LERG) database.
 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein thetelephone number usage and forecast data includes categories associatedwith the usage.
 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein thetelephone number usage forecast of the telecommunications carrierincludes data indicative of usage of an NPA-NXX-X (thousands block). 6.The system according to claim 1, wherein the software is used to querysaid database operated by the telecommunications carrier to determinehow many numbers of an NPA-NXX-X (thousands block) are being used bycustomers of the telecommunications carrier.
 7. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the software is used by the computing device to querysaid database operated by the telecommunications carrier to determinerate center growth and NPA growth of the telecommunications carrier. 8.The system according to claim 7, wherein the software is used by thecomputing device to determine a thousands block forecast for each ratecenter, NXX forecast for each rate center, and NXX forecast for eachNPA.
 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the software is used bythe computing device to query the second database for thousands blocksassigned to a telecommunications carrier and thousands blocks notassigned to a telecommunications carrier.
 10. The system according toclaim 9, wherein the software is further used to determine carrier andnon-carrier working numbers to determine rate center percent utilizationand NPA percent utilization.
 11. A method for forecasting and reportingtelecommunications usage by a telecommunications carrier, said methodcomprising: storing data indicative of telephone number usage assignedto the telecommunications carrier in a first database managed by thetelecommunications carrier; querying the first database to obtain afirst set of data including telephone number information associated withthe telecommunications carrier; querying a second database managed by anindustry organization and operating on a network to obtain a second setof data including telephone number information associated with thetelecommunications carrier; and automatically generating telephonenumber usage and forecast data from the first and second sets of dataand to populate fields of a report with the telephone number usage to besubmitted to a telecommunications reporting agency for forecastingfuture telecommunications telephone number usage.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 11, wherein populating fields of the report includespopulating an NRUF report.
 13. The method according to claim 11, whereinquerying the second database includes querying a LERG database.
 14. Themethod according to claim 11, wherein generating includes generatingcategories associated with the usage.
 15. The method according to claim11, wherein generating includes generating data indicative of usage ofNPA-NXX-X (thousands block).
 16. The method according to claim 11,wherein querying the first database includes determining how manynumbers of a NPA-NXX-X (thousands block) are being used by customers ofthe telecommunications carrier.
 17. The method according to claim 11,wherein querying the first database includes determine rate centergrowth and NPA growth of the telecommunications carriers.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17, further comprising determining a thousands blockforecast for each rate center, NXX forecast for each rate center, andNXX forecast for each NPA.
 19. The method according to claim 11, whereinquerying the second database includes determining unassigned numbers andassigned numbers donated for pooling by the telecommunications carrier.20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising determiningcarrier and non-carrier working numbers for the software to be furtherused to determine rate center percent utilization and NPA percentutilization.